


Pretend

by Eternal_Love_Song



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Challenging Social Norms, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gender Roles, Minor Sif/Thor (Marvel), Unrequited Amora/Loki, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 19:56:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3460025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Love_Song/pseuds/Eternal_Love_Song
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the beginning it was about who he was pretending to be, now it was about who was doing the pretending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After A Few Good Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that's been stuck in my head and I decided to see where I could go with it. Expect infrequent updates.

It was a night both too late and too early when it began.

Sif was alone. The only people lingering in the tavern at this hour were drunkards and lonely souls with no where better to be. Sif was embarrassed to think that she was the latter. A proud warrior should not be moping.

Not that she could exactly call herself a warrior. An apprentice, perhaps, but she had yet to wrangled enough training or respect to call herself a true warrior.

"Fair Lady Sif!" A cheerful voice, just on the edge of mocking, called out to her. Sif turned to find the amused face of the second prince grinning down at her.

"Loki." Sif's greeting was lacking warmth and proper respect both, but she was too drunk to much care. She'd been at this for hours enough it was a wonder she had mind for anything at all.

"Drowning sorrows, my lady?" Loki asked as he took a seat beside her. "That is unlike you."

"How would you know what is unlike me?" Sif snapped. She was rather wary of speaking too long (or too harshly) to the second prince. He had as well a reputation for mischief as his brother had for battle and she was in no mood for such things.

"Now, now, let us not be coarse, my lady. It does not suit."

"No, of course not. Nothing I do suits," She spat. "Neither battle nor swords, right? Neither clever tongue nor bitter words? No, only men may have a mind to prove themselves! Only men have a mind at all!"

Loki looked at her with startled eyes, holding his hands up in supplication. "Peace, Sif! I mean no offense. I only wish to talk."

"Why should you wish to talk to me?" Sif snorted in quite the unladylike manner. "Second prince and outcast having a drink? It should do you more harm than it could do me good."

Loki gave her a wry smile. "You are hardly an outcast," He told her gently. "Not like I."

"You?"

"Haven't you heard? They tell a great many tales about the Prince of Tricks."

"I have heard such titles of you, but that does not tell me what you are you doing here or why you may wish to make company of me."

Loki hummed noncommittally a moment, reaching out and taking a strand of her golden hair and twirling it around his finger. "Perhaps I am just as inebriated as you," He murmured to himself. Meeting her eyes, he spoke louder. "My tricks are the reason that I have come. Well, my tricks and your own reputation."

Sif's brow furrowed as she stared at him. She was far too drunk to follow the ins and outs of the prince's speech. "Speak plainly or not at all!" She demanded.

Loki chuckled. "I study magic, my lady, much as you do the sword. It is not an encouraged practice, but it is mine all the same. I have watched you," He admitted. "We've had to do similar things to be indulged in the art that we wish."

Sif looked at him more closely, the surprise completely transforming and softening her expression. "You... you study magic, my prince?"

"Yes. I can do a great many things with it." Loki took a breath before continuing. "And I know that you... I know that you care for my brother."

Sif stiffened completely, sobering up fast. Her fear turned to anger an instant later. "And what? You come to mock me? That a common born nobody that knows not her place should desire so far above her station?"

"Not at all," Loki assured her. "I... I am in similar straits. I've an eye for one that I cannot have."

Sif balked at that. "You are a prince! Who could there be that you cannot have?"

Loki chuckled once more, this time somewhat darkly. "You should understand that, my lady. Who wants a second prince when there is thought of the first? What I want is to give you what you want. Or close to it."

"What do you mean?"

In an instant Loki changed from his own likeness to that of Thor's, broad shouldered and golden haired. "From time to time, it is nice to believe we can have what we want, is it not? And we two are not properly met, but I would like to like you. We could have allies of one another."

"You wish to bed me," She said plainly, glaring at him soundly. Though it was hard to pretend that the sight of him did not send her heart into overdrive.

"Yes, but it was my hope that we may become friends as well."

"What would you get out of pretending to be Thor for me?" Sif asked suspiciously.

Loki's hand reached out once more to catch the strands of her golden hair. His expression changed when he looked at her again, soft and dream like. "You remind me of her," He said softly. "Beautiful. Golden. Glorious. Her eyes are also for Thor alone and there is naught for it."

"Why not simply use your tricks to have her as you would have me?" Sif spat out.

"I do not want to trick her into my bed, but even without that, I cannot. She knows magic too well, she would know my disguise. Nor do I wish to trick you. Even should you turn me down, I should hope that we could be friends."

It was probably the mead that made her say yes. Her long time crush on Thor was not based solely on his good looks. The crown prince was kind and had even endeavored to help her on her path to becoming a warrior, tossing support her way and removing roadblocks when he could. Having him would be a dream come true, so it only made sense that it could only be a dream this way at all.

Sif was far too drunk to worry about who might see her leaving the tavern with a Thor look-a-like, but it was also too late/early for much of anyone to be around that cared. She lead the second prince, disguised as the first, to her bedchamber.

It was sloppy and messy, fast and reckless. He caught her around the waist as soon as the door was closed behind them, shoving his tongue down her throat in a wet kiss. Sif clung to him, hands running along his broad shoulders and muscle arms, pressing her breast against him to feel the ripple of muscle along his chest.

Her clothes were pulled off fast as he moved her to the bed, planting wet kisses along her neck and palming her breast. Sif gasped at the contact, at the attention, her hands reaching for him. She fumbled at the buckles of his clothing for a bit, but eventually got them loose and bared the body before her.

Sif bid him pause so that she could take in the sight of him.

Starting at the crown of golden hair and losing herself for minutes in those blue eyes, hands coming up to caress his face. She stroked his face jaw to cheek, feeling the thickness of his beard. Her hands trailed down his neck and shoulders, squeezing along his arms, explored the expanse of his chest and swept down the plains of his stomach, finally resting when they reached his thighs. She paused as she stared down at the erect length between his thighs, her breath catching at the size of him.

He grinned a Thor like grin and Sif was completely sold on the illusion. No one else could smile like the sun rising, like the day breaking after a long night, like victory over the simplest and best of pursuits. He seized hold of her then, arms circling around her waist as his mouth came down again to capture her.

"Ah, lady, such unrivaled beauty does shine from you," Thor's voice both boomed and whispered. He continued such praise as he kissed her chest, her breast, stopping only to suck at a nipple, hands pressing into her thighs and parting her legs. The praise was heady, the strong voice demanding belief out of her. She felt the head of his length at her entrance and she gasp in anticipation and nerves alike. "Part for me, my lady. Let me embrace you, touch you deep as your beauty goes. Give over to me," He said into her ear and her body arched as he pushed into her.

She cried out in pleasure as her body embraced him, welcomed him, clung to him. He pulled out slowly, rocking in and out of her with gentle motions that slowly increased into a fury. He panted into her ear, his warm hands on her thighs holding her apart, and her nails dug into the skin of his arms.

"Thor!" She gasped out. He faltered for a moment in his rhythm, but continued on faster and harder, bidding her body to yield to him. Sif could not restrain her cries.

His mouth moved to press kisses to her collar bone, to her neck, to any place he could reach. "Release for me, my lady. Show me how radiant you truly are!" Her body shuddered as it surrendered to him, her release overwhelming her. The strong body above her moved wildly and recklessly for a few more thrust before spilling inside her, growling out his own pleasure.

He fell to the bed beside her, wrapping her in his arms and tucking her into his body. Sif completely relaxed in the embrace. This was a dream come true and she wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

Eventually, she slept, unable to fight off the weariness that had been so pleasurably pounded into her body.

No one was there when she woke, leaving her free to weep that her dream was no more than that.

* * *

 

It was a week later before Sif saw Loki again.

It was a week of hard training, pushing herself beyond her limits for people sorely unsympathetic of her plights. She tried to channel her frustrations into the sword, followed by her sorrows and loneliness both, but that only resulted in the openness of her tears as she reigned down blow after blow upon her opponents. That didn't gain her any respect, though neither did her successes. There was no esteem for her on this path, only greater and greater disdain.

It was after a particularly hard training session that she picked herself up from the training grounds, mostly empty as she was only indulged in the nights when there were not any "real" warriors for her to burden, that she looked up to find Loki watching her. He approached only once he was noticed, giving her a small smile. "Greetings, Lady Sif. Do you fare well?"

"As well as a beaten maiden might," She ground out sarcastically. Everything on her hurt. Everything inside her hurt. And, she realized, she was rather angry with Loki for having used her. Even if she had used him as well.

"Shall I aid you to the healer's room?" He asked her.

"No, I don't need it," Sif insisted. She actually did need it, but she didn't want Loki to accompany her.

Loki reached out to touch a cut on her cheek and she flinched slightly. "Hmm, clearly," He replied. "Well, come on," He said, walking ahead of her.

"Come where?" She asked. He didn't stop to answer her and after a moment she went after him. She was limping slightly from the pain and muscle strain, biting on her lips to keep from letting out any of the pained whimpers that wished escape.

"My chambers, of course," Loki answered.

She stopped. "Why?"

Loki turned to grin at her, taking her arm and pulling her along. "You're to be an experiment," He told her. "Eir has been teaching me healing spells this week. I'm going to test my proficiency by healing you, since you refuse to go to the healers room." Loki opened the door to his chambers and pulled her within.

"I did not agree to this!" Sif complained.

"Do not worry, I have a natural talent for magic. I need only practice." Loki sat her down on chair before the fireplace and stood in front of her. "Alright. So tell me what hurts most."

"Why are you doing this?" Sif asked with a glare.

"I need the practice," Loki stated dryly. He placed his hands on her cheek and she felt an icy burning along her cuts. She let out a gasp and tried to pull away, but he held her tight. "Hold still!" He scolded.

"What are you doing to me?" She demanded.

"Healing spells are painful," Loki explained. "I'm pushing your body to speed up it's own natural healing process. There are separate spells that have to be used to counteract the pain, but I haven't learned those yet."

It was an hour at least, several at most, before all of Sif's wounds were healed. She certainly had not made it easy on him, refusing to mention where she was hurt, which he responded to by searching out the wounds himself, pressing hard into anywhere he thought there might be injury and watching for her flinch. She also flinched often at the pain involved in the healing spells until he used another spell to hold her still. Once he was satisfied that she was no longer injured, he sent her off to her own room and commanded her to sleep.

Sif was left very irritated by the encounter.

The same pattern kept up over the next few weeks. Every few days Loki would seek her out after her training, force her back to his room and heal her, regardless of how much she complained, resisted, or was outright nasty to him in her pain. Then she was sent off when he was done, with hardly a farewell.

Loki was commanding, invasive, sarcastic, and manipulative, though she didn't usually recognize the manipulations for what they were until afterwards. He was a casual liar, which she only knew because he so often told the truth. He seemed to have no concern over his lies being called out, dropping either with such ease in conversation that she snapped at him every time he revealed one of his earlier statements or stories to be lies, grumbling in irritation and grinding her teeth when he brushed off her ire as if it were nothing.

When she finally exploded at him and demanded to know why he continually harassed her, he gave her a look of confusion and hurt, answering, "I told you that I wished us to be friends."

Sif was completely floored. "This is friendship to you?"

Loki had been sitting at his desk, bent over a book of healing spells for some review or another, but he stood and faced her now. His brow furrowed and he asked, "What would you consider it?"

Sif didn't really have an answer for that. She had been wondering why Loki was bothering with her this entire time and that answer had not even been on the list of considerations. To be honest, Sif didn't recall most of their conversation that first night they spoke. In truth, she'd begun to think it a dream.

"I'll get better, you know," Loki told her. When she gave him a confused look, he elaborated. "At the healing. I know I'm not much good at it now, but I'll get better, so I won't have to steal so much of your time. I practice on Thor, too, when I've the chance." Loki was looking away from her and it occurred to her that he was as new to his art as she was to hers. She had never considered the difficulty of magic. She'd been made to attempt it, but she was so quick to reject that in favor of a blade that she never really considered what learning magic might be like.

She'd also never considered that the prince would worry about being a burden to her. How could she, when he was always so commanding with her!

He was entitled to be so, however. He was the prince, it was natural for him to show such airs. Expected, even. Thor certainly had his way all the time.

Sif didn't really know what made her say it, but looking at Loki, she told him, "You know, you can talk to me more than just to address my injury."

Loki look genuinely surprised at that, but he covered it up a moment later. He turned from her and nodded. "You know, I am made to learn weapons as well, even though I've chosen to study magic. A prince cannot be without proper talents." There was a biter curve to his lips as he said this.

Sif's eyes widened a bit. She hadn't considered that, unlike her, he couldn't really just do what he wanted. "How do you have any free time?"

Loki smiled at her with wry humor. "I am not the best, of course, but I could teach you. I cannot imagine you are truly given many opportunities to learn as you wish."

"I... I would be most grateful!" Sif replied readily.

Loki grinned at her.

It didn't occur to her until later how hard Loki was trying to be useful to her, to not be a burden by befriending her.

It didn't occur to her how much Loki went out of his way for her.

It also did not occur to her how much she enjoyed his company, but she had stopped putting up such a fight against it.

 


	2. We Spar

It was a month before Loki and Sif ended up in bed again.

Loki was true to his word and began helping her train every other day. She wasn't surprised that the prince was better than her. What she was surprised by, was how much better he seemed to be.

"Your stance is far too stiff. Your reactions are slow," Loki said from above Sif as she glared up at him. She was seated rather painfully on the ground. Loki, she found, was very light on his feet, hard to hit, and had impeccable aim. Aim which he used to land her on her ass time and time again.

Over the last few weeks, she had learned a bit more about the second prince. Well, more about his reputation at any rate. Once the other warriors saw that she was getting lessons from him, they left the rumors fly anytime they found her alone. Loki was a known liar, though he kept his word to her well enough. Opinions of the younger prince were sketchy at best and her association with him was not doing her any own reputation favors. Not that anything else seemed to.

"You could at least let me get a hit in!" Sif complained as she hauled herself to her feet. Loki did more dodging than attacking and when he did attack, his primary goal was just to get her to the ground. It was highly frustrating.

"I'm not going to go easy on you," Loki told her. "It would be disrespectful to you as a warrior."

Sif wanted to snap at that response. It was humiliating to lose all the time, though she couldn't (wouldn't) ask him to go easy on her.

"Could you at least not make it look so easy?" She asked in irritation.

Loki smirked at her. "I suppose."

Sif's mixed feelings toward Loki never settled.

"Once more then."

"Brother!" Thor's booming voice called out from across the training feild.

Loki glanced curiously over his shoulder, keeping half an eye out to Sif as she stood completely straight. "Oh, now you improve your battle stance," Loki quipped under his breath.

Sif glared at him, even though he was completely right. That was one things she could really do without, Loki pointing out when he's right.

"Ah, Lady Sif! Greetings!" Thor boomed.

"Hello, my prince." Sif smiled brightly at him. Loki rolled is eyes.

"What brings you here so late, brother?" Loki questioned.

"I was wondering the same of you. You never spend so much time on the training grounds and yet I hear you've been hear late for the better part of a few weeks."

"Do you not let the gossip fool you, brother, I am no more interested in weapons than I before was."

Thor frowned at this slightly, confusion over taking his features. His smile was resilient, though, and returned only moment later. "Ah, so it is some mischief, then!"

"Oh, yes, the worst kind of mischief there is,"Loki proclaimed wryly. "I am helping Lady Sif master the sword."

Thor's attention deviated to her again, seeming to only now take in her attire and armed state. He laughed loudly as he replied. "Only you would call being helpful the worst kind of mischief!"

"You would not feel that way if you saw her swordplay. Atrocious."

Sif shot him a betrayed look, but Loki only responded with a smirk and a wink.

"Perhaps it is the fault of the teacher and not the student," Thor replied.

"Oh? By all means then, brother, show me up." Loki gestured to Sif and it was only then that she realized Loki was the best friend she could ever have asked for.

Thor grinned at her widely and for a moment, the look was so reminiscent of the ones Loki often gave her that she wondered if the crown prince was just as much a trouble maker as his brother. It melted her heart all the same, though. "First things first, my lady. Loki has done you a grave injustice to have so poorly taught you stance."

Sif chose not to look at Loki, knowing that he was giving her one of those knowing I-told-you-so looks. Her body tingled everywhere Thor touched her as he moved her body into the correct placements.

"As long as I am such an awful teacher, perhaps you should help us out more often?" Loki questioned casually.

"Well the Lady Sif certainly won't learn if I leave it to you."

Loki stepped closer to Thor, clapping him on his shoulder. "I suppose we have a goal, then. Turn the novice into a champion, yes?"

That troublemaker grin returned to Thor. "I assure you that I can!" He said cheerfully.

"Is that so? Before I've seen you train with some of the guards and they haven't seemed to learn a thing from you, except how easy it is to break your guard."

"And you are so much better?"

"At least I am faster."

"I am the stronger of us!"

"Which means nothing if they get you down after only a single good blow."

"You wound my pride, Loki!"

"Then you best redeem yourself," Loki told him. "To arms, Lady Sif!" He grinned at her. "This prince will be much easier to hit. I'd try dodging rather than guarding here."

Sif tried not to show how visibly nervous she was. "I would relish the chance to practice with you, my prince."

"Well, I cannot refuse the request of a maiden," Thor insisted. Then he proceeded to defeat her very thoroughly and Sif wished for the days when it was just Loki putting her to the floor. Thor was brutal and she was sure he was going easy on her. She felt sore everywhere.

"Alright, come on," Loki said as he helped her to her feet. "You did not have to break her, idiot!"

"My apologies, but she was much better than I expected."

"Yes, well, I haven't been resting on my laurel during her training," Loki replied with an eye roll. "Next time, try a bit of moderation, you oaf." Loki's tone was fond though, even as he dragged Sif to her feet and basically held up her entire body weight himself. He didn't pick her up, though, which she was grateful for.

"Next time I will not make it so easy for you," Sif told him.

Thor laughed, boisterous and loud. "You certainly have a warrior's spirit. I look forward to our next spar."

"I shall accompany her to the healer's," Loki said, nodding Thor off.

The first prince smiled, clapping Loki on his shoulder as he left. They walked off in the opposite direction, until they turned a corner, after which Loki lifted her off her feet and into his arms.

"What are you doing?" Sif complained.

"Hush, you are in no condition to walk and none of the warriors can see you now."

Sif blushed at being handled so easily, but she was infinitely glad that Loki didn't do this in front of the other warriors. She wasn't certain that her reputation could handle such demeaning displays as being carried.

"You did well today," Loki said once they entered his room, setting her down in the usual place.

"I lost horribly," She argued.

"Of course you did," Loki told her matter-of-factly. "You are a novice. There was never a chance you would beat him. You held your ground very well for your station, however. You persevered and you were able to last multiple rounds, even if he did hold back. You could not have done this even a week ago."

Sif felt an unfurling of pride at the complement, even as the usual pain from healing took hold. She had begun to get use to the pain. True to his word though, the pain had begun to lessen as Loki only got better and better.

"Do you think I impressed him?" Sif asked cautiously, part of her dreading the answer. Loki didn't usually sugar coat the truth. At least, not to her. Sometimes she thought he went out of his way in conversation to be as painfully truthful as possible.

"Hmm. Yes," He answered. "As I said, you showed much determination. Thor is greatly admiring of that."

"Perhaps one day he shall look at me as an equal." Sif let out a wistful sigh at the thought.

"That day could be today."

Sif turned to give him a questioning look, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw the visage of Thor standing before her. He grinned at her widely, the expression equal in cheer and trouble, the smile that the brother's seemed to share.

"What say you, Lady Sif?" The voice was perfectly what she remembered from minutes earlier. "A different sort of spar?"

For a moment, Sif was stunned, looking at Thor's image made her breath catch and her heartbeat speed up. Only a moment, then she reached out for him. "I'm much more practiced on this sort of battle ground," Sif told him. "You may find yourself out matched."

Thor's grin only widened and she found herself swiftly pressed into the wall, lips crashing against her own. She met him with equal ferocity, unleashing all her pent up frustration and tension from earlier battling. She slid her hand into his hair, grabbing tightly enough that he gasped into her mouth, his hands gripping her waist more tightly. The kiss was wild with tongue and teeth, his hands groping about for the latches and snaps of her armor.

Sif pulled away from him long enough to let the loosened pieces of her clothing fall away before surging forward, wrapping her legs around his waist and attacking his neck. He caught her easily, hands under her thighs, leaving him undefended against her ministrations. She licked a path to his ear, biting at his ear lobe and he practically growled in response. He slammed her back against the wall and she gasped at the hard impact. He bit into her neck and she drove her nails into the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

There was still too much between them. She clawed at his armor, unlatching everything within reach as he kissed and suck on her neck, leaving bite marks and bruises that stung wonderfully. Once she got his chest plate removed and her hands finally on his skin, she tranced a path along his spine with her nails and she felt the tremble run through his body. "Sif," Thor's voice moaned in her ear, heavy and husky with want.

Sif tightened her legs around his waist, grinding herself against him teasingly. She nearly ripped his shirt in her effort to remove it from his body. She was on his as soon as she had that expanse of skin revealed, trailing biting kisses along his collar bone, dipping her tongue into the hollow of his throat. He groaned, his hands gripping at her ass and thighs before moving to free her of her breeches. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she loosened her legs, refusing to be drawn away from his.

She found her self pant less in short order, his hand rubbing against her wetness, one hand still under her rear, holding her up. "So ready for me," He groaned. She rolled her hips forward, her own breathless moan escaping her.

"But are you ready for me?" She asked teasingly. He was quick to open his own breeches, pressing her to the wall and holding her open. He met her eyes a moment, giving her a wild and reckless grin.

"My weapon is always ready," He told her before pushing forward and sliding home in one swift stroke. A small escaped her lips, but he didn't stop. His thrust were harsh and quick, setting a punishing pace as he pounded into her. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, one tightly fisting his hair, the other digging her nails into the back of his neck. She was holding so tightly she thought she might have drawn blood, but she had no mind for paying it any attention. Her thighs tightened around him, pulling him closer on his every thrust. She was panting in his ear in tandem with own grunts of exertion. "Harder, my prince," She whispered breathlessly.

He quickly complied, slamming into her ruthlessly until she couldn't help but let out screams of pleasure. He nipped and bit at her neck, took her lips in wet, messy kisses, and she returned all his passion ardently. She tugged harshly on his hair when her release finally hit her and he growled as he followed right after her. They both breathed heavily a moment before he pulled out of her, carrying her over to his bed. She brushed the air from his forehead, staring into his blue eyes, and giving him a tired smile. He smiled at her in turn."I'd say that I won that round," He told her.

Sif only grinned wider. "Best of three."


End file.
